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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
Firstly, I love new authors and I LOVE historical fiction. Secondly, I also love all things London (I lived there for just shy of a year in 2019-2020). I had really high hopes for this book. When I first picked it up and read the synopsis I thought it was a unique time to be set - just after WW2 and the formation of the Cold War - when most historical fiction tends to be centred around large historical events (and as much as I love WW2 era fiction, it’s a little overdone). It had the whiff of romance and espionage and intrigue. I liked it…but that’s it. Just liked. I give it the book equivalent of friend-zoning, without any hopes of more.
If you’re a historical fiction nut, you might want to give this one a read if you’re looking for a languid walk through some literature, but if you’re looking for a book to be your gateway to historical fiction keep on walking. Reading this felt like a gentle saunter through a couples joint timeline as they fall apart and together during and after WW2. Even at its most intense parts though, it still read as a gentle saunter. Nothing felt too high emotion, despite what we are told are highly emotive/controversial feelings for the characters to be experiencing. One positive I felt strongly throughout the book was I enjoyed Diana’s realization that she wanted Brent, not necessarily needed him. She became an independent woman in her own right but still loved just as strongly. There were moments I enjoyed (Diana and Brent’s meet-cute, finally addressing their demons together) but overall I felt like the book lingered for just a little too long. An inoffensive, safe and fairly predictable story that just settles as ‘okay’ in my books.
If you’re a historical fiction nut, you might want to give this one a read if you’re looking for a languid walk through some literature, but if you’re looking for a book to be your gateway to historical fiction keep on walking. Reading this felt like a gentle saunter through a couples joint timeline as they fall apart and together during and after WW2. Even at its most intense parts though, it still read as a gentle saunter. Nothing felt too high emotion, despite what we are told are highly emotive/controversial feelings for the characters to be experiencing. One positive I felt strongly throughout the book was I enjoyed Diana’s realization that she wanted Brent, not necessarily needed him. She became an independent woman in her own right but still loved just as strongly. There were moments I enjoyed (Diana and Brent’s meet-cute, finally addressing their demons together) but overall I felt like the book lingered for just a little too long. An inoffensive, safe and fairly predictable story that just settles as ‘okay’ in my books.
First Reviewed here: http://belovedgraceful-carissasbookshelf.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-london-restoration.html
Title: The London Restoration
Author: Rachel McMillan
Ch: 30
Pg: 315
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: 5 stars
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
The London Restoration by Rachel McMillan answers the question I’ve always asked at the end of a book or when the movie credits roll what happens after the happy ever after or the wedding. This book focuses on the couple after the wedding and what happens after a couple separated by war are reunited
Not only do Diana and Brent have to figure out how to rebuild their lives together and separate but they have to come to terms with Diana’s secret life in the war. While around them the city of London figures out how to rebuild. And even through churches were bombed they weren’t destroyed.
I loved The London Restoration. A strong and capable heroine who still wants the hero in her life. And a redhead nerdy hero my favorite kind of hero. Brent is one of my favorite historical fiction heroes and the fact he’s nerdy professor with red hair doesn’t hurt. But he’s a flawed hero scares both inside and out from the war. Showing that even in WWII there’s no such thing as uninjured soldiers even the ones who never fired a weapon. Brent is showing symptoms of PTSD even if that wasn’t the name of it. Making him even more realistic and even more loveable in my opinion. And love Diana even more because she doesn’t run away.
All of Rachel’s books are awesome but The London Restoration shows that her authors heart is with historical romance and I for one can’t wait for The Mozart Code and any other historical romance from her.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
Title: The London Restoration
Author: Rachel McMillan
Ch: 30
Pg: 315
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: 5 stars
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
The London Restoration by Rachel McMillan answers the question I’ve always asked at the end of a book or when the movie credits roll what happens after the happy ever after or the wedding. This book focuses on the couple after the wedding and what happens after a couple separated by war are reunited
Not only do Diana and Brent have to figure out how to rebuild their lives together and separate but they have to come to terms with Diana’s secret life in the war. While around them the city of London figures out how to rebuild. And even through churches were bombed they weren’t destroyed.
I loved The London Restoration. A strong and capable heroine who still wants the hero in her life. And a redhead nerdy hero my favorite kind of hero. Brent is one of my favorite historical fiction heroes and the fact he’s nerdy professor with red hair doesn’t hurt. But he’s a flawed hero scares both inside and out from the war. Showing that even in WWII there’s no such thing as uninjured soldiers even the ones who never fired a weapon. Brent is showing symptoms of PTSD even if that wasn’t the name of it. Making him even more realistic and even more loveable in my opinion. And love Diana even more because she doesn’t run away.
All of Rachel’s books are awesome but The London Restoration shows that her authors heart is with historical romance and I for one can’t wait for The Mozart Code and any other historical romance from her.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
The main characters are deeply impacted by their roles during WW II: Brent as a soldier and Diana a decoder at Bletchley Park. As they return to married in London, neither is the same. There is a lot of heavily researched information about the Wren churches and I found that while fascinating, it bogged the story down.
Originally reviewed at Books Etc.
You'd think at some point I'd get tired of World War II set historical fiction. I certainly won't run out of it since it seems like there's a new release (or two) every week. I have not yet reached that point. I probably won't ever reach that point, to be honest. The latest WWII set novel I read was Rachel McMillan's The London Restoration and it kept me intrigued from the first page to the last.
Technically, the majority of the novel takes place after VE Day (Victory in Europe Day when the war was declared over in Europe on May 8, 1945) but there are flashbacks so the reader knows how Diana and Brent spent their wars. The novel was a reminder that things didn't just automatically go back to normal as soon as the war was over. Rationing continued for almost another decade and it took a long time for bombed buildings to be rebuilt. Reading as Diana and Brent visited the remains of some of the churches in London was sobering. I'm not a religious person but I appreciate beautiful buildings and can't imagine how difficult it would have been for communities to lose their houses of worship (on top of their actual houses) because of German bombings.
While I think it was important to have some of the information about what Diana and Brent were going through during the war I found the flashbacks sometimes took me totally out of the story. I wanted to hear about their experiences but something about the way the scenes were written didn't quite work for me.
Brent is suffering from what we now know as PTSD and he and Diana are trying to find their way back to each other and figure out what their marriage is going to look like now. McMillan wrote the emotions they were both feeling really well and I was anxious for the pair to make it through. It was nice to read about an already established couple (even though they hadn't actually spent more than a day at a time together since they were married) as they were sorting through this new post-war world. I could tell they had a really solid foundation and I hoped that would be enough.
I hadn't known much, if anything, about traitors at Bletchley Park or the start of the Cold War until I read Kate Quinn's The Rose Code recently. So, to see it also come up in this novel was quite interesting. It was another thing that indicated the war wasn't as over as it may seem or, perhaps more appropriately, it had bred another kind of war. The history and the intrigue from hunting spies were compelling and I definitely did not guess who was behind Eternity before it was revealed.
I'm really glad I finally made time to read The London Restoration. Rachel McMillan's novel was one I really wanted to get to in 2020 (it was released in August) but I just couldn't fit it into the reading schedule. It's an interesting read for historical fiction fans and I'm looking forward to The Mozart Code, which features some of the characters from this novel and is set to be published in September 2021.
*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, HarperCollins Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*
You'd think at some point I'd get tired of World War II set historical fiction. I certainly won't run out of it since it seems like there's a new release (or two) every week. I have not yet reached that point. I probably won't ever reach that point, to be honest. The latest WWII set novel I read was Rachel McMillan's The London Restoration and it kept me intrigued from the first page to the last.
Technically, the majority of the novel takes place after VE Day (Victory in Europe Day when the war was declared over in Europe on May 8, 1945) but there are flashbacks so the reader knows how Diana and Brent spent their wars. The novel was a reminder that things didn't just automatically go back to normal as soon as the war was over. Rationing continued for almost another decade and it took a long time for bombed buildings to be rebuilt. Reading as Diana and Brent visited the remains of some of the churches in London was sobering. I'm not a religious person but I appreciate beautiful buildings and can't imagine how difficult it would have been for communities to lose their houses of worship (on top of their actual houses) because of German bombings.
While I think it was important to have some of the information about what Diana and Brent were going through during the war I found the flashbacks sometimes took me totally out of the story. I wanted to hear about their experiences but something about the way the scenes were written didn't quite work for me.
Brent is suffering from what we now know as PTSD and he and Diana are trying to find their way back to each other and figure out what their marriage is going to look like now. McMillan wrote the emotions they were both feeling really well and I was anxious for the pair to make it through. It was nice to read about an already established couple (even though they hadn't actually spent more than a day at a time together since they were married) as they were sorting through this new post-war world. I could tell they had a really solid foundation and I hoped that would be enough.
I hadn't known much, if anything, about traitors at Bletchley Park or the start of the Cold War until I read Kate Quinn's The Rose Code recently. So, to see it also come up in this novel was quite interesting. It was another thing that indicated the war wasn't as over as it may seem or, perhaps more appropriately, it had bred another kind of war. The history and the intrigue from hunting spies were compelling and I definitely did not guess who was behind Eternity before it was revealed.
I'm really glad I finally made time to read The London Restoration. Rachel McMillan's novel was one I really wanted to get to in 2020 (it was released in August) but I just couldn't fit it into the reading schedule. It's an interesting read for historical fiction fans and I'm looking forward to The Mozart Code, which features some of the characters from this novel and is set to be published in September 2021.
*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, HarperCollins Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*
With thanks to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for my advanced audiobook any opinions expressed here are my own.
I was happy to receive and early copy of this audiobook as the description sounded like something I would love. Unfortunately I found the story and the narrator rather dull. Sadly the book ended up falling flat for me with a two star rating.
I was happy to receive and early copy of this audiobook as the description sounded like something I would love. Unfortunately I found the story and the narrator rather dull. Sadly the book ended up falling flat for me with a two star rating.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this title to listen to and review.
I loved that this book took place after the end of World War 2, with some flashback to the war. The main characters, Diana and Brent, were relatable for the most part. I did find they kept rehashing the same conversation often without actually changing anything and that was a bit frustrating. The story was pretty good and made me go off on a research tangent for Wren churches. What I like the most was how the author moved these people from the war but showed how they changed. I find a lot of WW2 fiction ends at the war and this was a unique perspective to see what happens next.
As an audio book it was nice to listen to. The narrator was pleasant and easy to listen to.
I loved that this book took place after the end of World War 2, with some flashback to the war. The main characters, Diana and Brent, were relatable for the most part. I did find they kept rehashing the same conversation often without actually changing anything and that was a bit frustrating. The story was pretty good and made me go off on a research tangent for Wren churches. What I like the most was how the author moved these people from the war but showed how they changed. I find a lot of WW2 fiction ends at the war and this was a unique perspective to see what happens next.
As an audio book it was nice to listen to. The narrator was pleasant and easy to listen to.
Full of historical detail and beautifully described architecture, The London Restoration is a clearly researched and well-written novel. It focuses on married couple Brent and Diana, who are finally reunited after years apart due to their involvement in World War II. But they each have secrets that keep them from fully trusting each other.
While the novel is about churches and spies and the spread of Communist ideals in Europe, it's mainly about Brent and Diana's marriage. It's not often you see a romance about a married couple (that isn't a marriage of convenience), and I enjoyed watching Brent and Diana take steps back toward each other. I also really liked the way McMillan moved back and forth in time to show different moments in Brent and Diana's stories. (These time jumps were clearly noted by date and place, making them easy to follow.)
The novel did move a little slowly for my taste, and I didn't feel like the suspense aspect of the plot was quite suspenseful enough, but overall I did enjoy the story, and I can't wait to find out what happens in the next book. Those who enjoy World War II-era novels will want to check this one out. 3-1/2 stars.
Disclosure of material connection: I received this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review, and the opinions expressed are my own.
While the novel is about churches and spies and the spread of Communist ideals in Europe, it's mainly about Brent and Diana's marriage. It's not often you see a romance about a married couple (that isn't a marriage of convenience), and I enjoyed watching Brent and Diana take steps back toward each other. I also really liked the way McMillan moved back and forth in time to show different moments in Brent and Diana's stories. (These time jumps were clearly noted by date and place, making them easy to follow.)
The novel did move a little slowly for my taste, and I didn't feel like the suspense aspect of the plot was quite suspenseful enough, but overall I did enjoy the story, and I can't wait to find out what happens in the next book. Those who enjoy World War II-era novels will want to check this one out. 3-1/2 stars.
Disclosure of material connection: I received this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review, and the opinions expressed are my own.
On a scale of cotton candy to Brussels sprouts, The London Restoration by Rachel McMillan is a creamy risotto served with burst cherry tomato sauce. While seemingly simple, risotto is anything but truly simple with its hours of slow cooking. Risotto, when cooked perfectly, makes any meal a rich experience of flavor.
The Somervilles reunite after the end of World War II, but they feel the strain of all the different secrets that each carries. Diana, an architectural historian, served the war by doing top-secret intelligence work while Brent, a professor of theology at King's College, carried stretchers of injured men out of the war zone. But the war isn't over, not for them, and certainly not for secret agents. Brent and Diana want to save their marriage and rebuild their beloved city, and all of this will be put to the test.
Rachel McMillan first came to my attention for her books set in Vienna. After all, how could I not love an author who writes about a city that I also love so much? When The London Restoration arrived on my doorstep, I was very excited to lose myself into the story. Brent and Diana flew off the pages with a level of humanity that can be difficult to be found in books -- they felt real. And the story they lived drew me through the bombed-out streets of London and into the broken churches. All that to say, I'm excited for the next book!
If you love historical fiction and London (or Vienna), The London Restoration is for you.
[book received. opinion my own.]
The Somervilles reunite after the end of World War II, but they feel the strain of all the different secrets that each carries. Diana, an architectural historian, served the war by doing top-secret intelligence work while Brent, a professor of theology at King's College, carried stretchers of injured men out of the war zone. But the war isn't over, not for them, and certainly not for secret agents. Brent and Diana want to save their marriage and rebuild their beloved city, and all of this will be put to the test.
Rachel McMillan first came to my attention for her books set in Vienna. After all, how could I not love an author who writes about a city that I also love so much? When The London Restoration arrived on my doorstep, I was very excited to lose myself into the story. Brent and Diana flew off the pages with a level of humanity that can be difficult to be found in books -- they felt real. And the story they lived drew me through the bombed-out streets of London and into the broken churches. All that to say, I'm excited for the next book!
If you love historical fiction and London (or Vienna), The London Restoration is for you.
[book received. opinion my own.]
Oh boy. Where do I begin with this lovely, amazing, stupendous book? It absolutely checks off every single one of my boxes. The London Restoration has architecture, history, suspense, and above all a divine romance. Most people know that marriage of convenience stories are my jam, but there’s just something special about this devoted married couple working together to solve a mystery while fighting for the love that has evolved throughout the course of World War II. The backdrop of a city in turmoil is a perfect metaphor for Brent and Diana— damaged but with a sturdy foundation not beyond repair.
Rachel McMillan is a star at penning flawed and multi-faceted humans. Anxiety, PTSD, jealousy, fear, as well as unflagging devotion, loyalty, and wisdom are some things that many of her characters bring to the table. This gives them an authenticity that is unprecedented in the genre. I applaud McMillan for not shying away from the tough stuff. It doesn’t hurt that there’s still a little bit of that romance fluff thrown in the mix too. Her heroes always end up being book boyfriends of mine and Brent Somerville is no exception. I could use a handsome, red haired man with broad shoulders and a beautiful voice! That dry sense of humor gives me life!
The London Restoration is, to use a literary cliche, compulsively readable. I intended to pace myself and ended up reading the entire book in a night. My laundry languished in the dryer, but I say, “What’s a few wrinkled shirts when there’s suspense and romance to be had?” Go preorder this book!
* I received a complimentary advanced copy of the book. I was not obligated to provide a review. All opinions expressed are my own. *
Rachel McMillan is a star at penning flawed and multi-faceted humans. Anxiety, PTSD, jealousy, fear, as well as unflagging devotion, loyalty, and wisdom are some things that many of her characters bring to the table. This gives them an authenticity that is unprecedented in the genre. I applaud McMillan for not shying away from the tough stuff. It doesn’t hurt that there’s still a little bit of that romance fluff thrown in the mix too. Her heroes always end up being book boyfriends of mine and Brent Somerville is no exception. I could use a handsome, red haired man with broad shoulders and a beautiful voice! That dry sense of humor gives me life!
The London Restoration is, to use a literary cliche, compulsively readable. I intended to pace myself and ended up reading the entire book in a night. My laundry languished in the dryer, but I say, “What’s a few wrinkled shirts when there’s suspense and romance to be had?” Go preorder this book!
* I received a complimentary advanced copy of the book. I was not obligated to provide a review. All opinions expressed are my own. *
*4,5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a copy of the audiobook
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a copy of the audiobook